title: Partnerships for research among managed care organizations.
abstract: Researchers within health maintenance organizations (HMOs) need to create greater opportunities for collaborative research within their organizations. Multisite research will yield high-quality information for improving care. This paper describes situations in which competition as well as collaboration are possible across HMOs in the current environment. The paper considers the following questions: (1) What criteria determine if a project can be conducted as a multisite study; and (2) what population and organizational features should be considered when designing cross-site collaboration? The paper also discusses two important trends in the larger health care environment: cost containment, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for health services researchers working within managed care; and mergers and acquisitions, which are changing the face of the larger health care industry.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser/Group Health, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Durham
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D006273:Health Facility Merger; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States